First Player

Chapter 1071 Chapter One Thousand and Sixty-Nine · [I buried the orange cat. 】

 Drowning in the lake means you have fulfilled your destiny. Ask the gods for help, and you won't be let go in the end.

The moment he fell to the bottom of the lake, a cold suffocation instantly enveloped him. He heard the sound of gunfire, and people on the shore were still firing, and he sank like a heavy stone in confusion.

 The surface of the lake presents a deep blue color, as if it were reflected in the sky. He still held in his arms the materials to be processed tomorrow, but they all lost value at this moment.

  Even his thoughts and struggles throughout his life... have lost their value.

 He is just an ordinary person, a nineteen-year-old high school student.

 Miracle will not favor him.

Those unfulfilled plans, those strategies written up all night long, and those allies planned to meet... all have lost their meaning. At this moment, intense pain enveloped him - who would want to die in silence so much.

 No matter what, only by living... can we know whether the savior is qualified and whether his world can be saved.

 At least, live until the moment when you completely lose your value...

He lost more and more blood. In the stinging cold, his throat was choked with a sense of suffocation. There were a dozen bullet holes all over his body that felt like they were being punched through. The shadow of death was cast on him.

 …What if the savior didn’t do it?

 …Then his world, eight billion lives…

　　Until he finally opened his lips in the overwhelming darkness and coldness, and let the first ray of cold lake water enter his mouth, he threw away his dignity and prayed like this——

 O God, save me.

 O God, save me.

 …It seems that this is the only way to do it.

 …It seems that there are only gods.

 Human beings often pray to illusory gods when they are in desperate situations, but they themselves also know that this kind of prayer before death is for psychological comfort, and it often does not receive a response.

The blue moonlight is reflected on the lake, and countless light spots are scattered in the colorful water, as if it is performing a cosmic feast. He closed his eyes and sank among these bright blue stars. The moonlight penetrated the water, and strands of blood floated upwards, and his body temperature became lower and lower.

 —until a glowing hand reached out to him.

At that moment, all the coldness and pain subsided.

 The white **** held his shoulders, his snow-like hair fluttered in the water, his eyes were like beacons shining in the darkness, and warmth surrounded him.

He leaned down to block the escaping cold, and spoke softly in his ear—

 Of course you should live.

I give you everything, I give you strength, I give you knowledge, I give you... everything you want.

Su Wensheng, I value you, you are the person most like him.

 I promise to protect your world line, and I promise to save you—as long as you keep my [secret], and you [never betray] me.

Su Wensheng didn’t know what his emotions should be.

 Everything he did was to prevent the gods from destroying the world. However, when he was mutilated by his human companions and fell into the most desperate abyss...only the gods saved him.

 Like the **** who sends salvation in mythology. The **** said that he valued him as long as he nodded and promised.

 “Never…betray?” Blood foam flowed from Su Wensheng’s mouth.

 “Never betray.” The **** whispered softly: “…I just want a promise from you.”

 It is just a promise, it is not mandatory. The gods just wanted to hear him with their own ears.

Su Wensheng suddenly realized that this almost omniscient **** seemed to be lonely. The way He looked at him reminded him of a lighthouse watching the sea in the dark night. Although this image was too high for Him, and he knew that He was not a good person, but...

 “I…will not…betray.”

 At the bottom of the silent lake, the moonlight is like passing stars.

The blue moonlight shuttled through the water like strands of thread, and the gods raised their eyebrows. This inorganic expression made people feel a little bit lonely.

 …The gods will be lonely?

This makes Su Wensheng feel ridiculous. He should know that the **** only thought he was valuable, so he would save people. What he uttered were just false words to appease him. He was never the protagonist blessed by miracles, but...

 “You are the most like me.” He said gently.

　　…most similar.

This made him feel desperate and hopeful.

 So this is his entire value and the source of his tragedy and pain. But it is precisely this "most similar" that gives him the opportunity to save the world.

so,

so…

 …Admit it.

 Acknowledge your own similarity, your “mission”, your utility value, and that you are a chess piece from beginning to end.

 Admit that his struggle has at least a little meaning, at least... He pulled the trolley pole and saved the rails of his world.

Thus…

The halo of light intertwined, and he saw that his floating black hair seemed to be dyed with a hazy blue water color. It intertwined with the white hair of the god, like a kiss, and like a cold award, the **** dropped the flowers and sword on his shoulders. His pupils opened unconsciously, and traceless tears fell from his eyes, quickly dissolving in the water and disappearing.

 "Ha...I saved...saved..."

He suddenly laughed, and the lake water slipped out of his mouth. He laughed so much that he coughed, and more tears fell from his cheeks without leaving any trace of heat. No one saw the crying at the bottom of the lake.

 —He finally saved the [orange cat].

 He saved it.

 Finally, he is no longer the person who cannot even save his own orange cat.

 …

 He finally won the world for once.

 Because he surrendered to this fate.

 …

Su Mingan's shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. It was very slight, but he felt it himself.

The young man in front of him was smiling, but his smile contained a hint of sadness, as if it was a strictly prescribed arc. The penetrating wound on the abdomen was still bleeding, and the burning caused the flesh to roll. The pain was unimaginable.

However, he just smiled, as if smiling through a thin mirror.

“…So it’s still doomed.” Su Mingan’s voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.

He thought of the high school student who buried the orange cat in his memory. The high school student was still the same high school student. The high school student would miss his father's braised prawns, miss the purses made by his grandma, and miss the fat orange cat. A high school student thinks that after passing the college entrance examination, he can change the world, change the world he is angry about, and change everything he has ever encountered. However, he didn't expect...

 …

　　　【I hugged the diary tightly in my arms, feeling very blocked in my heart. 】

  【I buried the orange cat. 】

　　【Its body is really fat, like a big orange bread under the ground, which looks quite funny. 】

 …

He couldn’t think of it,

 He was also the orange cat in the end.

 …

“—Su Wensheng, shall I take you away?”

  “—Don’t take me away.”

 They said it in unison.

Su Ming'an's eyes were fixed on Su Wensheng. His face was pale and he had suffered severe blood loss.

 …They always say similar things.

 …although there will still be many differences.

Their eyes met, and the setting sun penetrated between them. Su Wensheng took a step forward.

 Then he stopped in front of Su Mingan. The orange-red sunset complemented the young man's pupils, and their figures reflected like burning amber.

 Then, Su Wensheng took the back of his hand and lowered his head slightly.

“Warning—Indoor temperature exceeds 43°…”

Many gunshots were heard all around, and golden-red flames floated up. The sounds were like the ever-covering ocean tide. However, his location was extremely safe. The bright red warning light rotated with light, and Su Wensheng's lowered eyebrows became darker and deeper. Under Su Mingan's silent gaze, he slowly moved his lips away and said:

 “Su Mingan.”

"From a rational level, I hope you die here. As long as you turn back, I can live. But from an emotional level, I think it is better for you to live. Maybe you can save 10,000 worlds...including me. that world.”

"I was really jealous of you before... Su Ming'an. If you smiled at the **** and said you wanted to kill me, he would probably listen to you. All my efforts and all my efforts are not worth mentioning in front of you."

"But in observing you, I gradually discovered that...you really seem to be...a little bit worth looking forward to."

 “Of course, just a little.”

"The gods have given up on me, and I have no reason to stop you."

“With this little expectation of yours, go and wake up the Alien King. Anyway...your ‘possibility’ will always be higher than mine.”

Su Mingan knew that he should put up a defense. After all, Su Wensheng was still a man of the gods. But Su Mingan didn't move.

 He just watched Su Wensheng approach him step by step.

“…I’m leaving, Su Wensheng.” Su Mingan said.

 The attack mode of Mechanical City was activated. He could not wait for more than ten hours and could only try to wake up the alien king in advance. Su Wensheng is seriously injured and cannot be taken away unless...

Su Wensheng's eyes were empty. He fixed his eyes on the ground. When Su Mingan looked at him, he raised his eyes and looked at each other.

 “You…” Su Mingan said.

Hold up an index finger and place it weakly in front of your lips.

Su Wensheng maintained this gesture and waved his hand: "If you think about it carefully, my value that was not taken away is not a 'necessity'. Su Mingan, you are a more qualified savior than me now, keep your skills."

Su Mingan: “…”

Su Mingan: "Is there really anyone who needs this skill in the future?"

Su Mingan certainly knows the importance of this skill, but if Su Wensheng is not an important person...is there really anyone he wants to take away later? Gods and overlapping shadows have no favorability value and do not count.

Su Wensheng could actually say "I'm not important" so calmly. He clearly wanted to live so much.

The last rays of the setting sun are glowing on the windows, and the molten gold-like color contrasts sharply with the cold color of the ground. Night falls inch by inch.

Su Wensheng was a little unable to stand. He slowly sat on the ground. His coat fell to the ground. He stretched out his **** hand and straightened the tie on his chest. He was wearing a shirt that was too thin, like a school uniform.

The bright red color rotated on his face, and there was a kind of silent calm in his dark eyes.

 Like those lonely twinkling stars in the night sky.

 He didn’t explain anything, but Su Mingan understood.

 …He was praying for survival at the bottom of the lake. What he was thinking about at that time was not his own survival. But he was afraid that after his death, an incompetent savior would usher in.

Now that he acknowledged it, even if it was just a little bit, he could let it go.

 He was given up by the gods, he was no longer needed.

Even if he knows that there may not be anyone in need of this skill later, but... what if?

 No matter whether the people behind him need it or not, he himself is indeed worthless to be saved - because this is how he evaluates himself. Humble, inferior, self-destructive.

 In the young man's eyes, there is an indescribable loneliness, bright and lonely.

 In the bright red light, he smiled and waved his hand, signaling Su Mingan to leave quickly. It's like saying goodbye to classmates after school, with a leisurely and relaxed posture.

 …During this period, the closest degree of intimacy between the two of them was only this.

  A distance of one meter away.

Su Mingan walked forward.

 One step, two steps, three steps.

 He heard the heartbeat that seemed to be overwhelming.

ˆVibrant, dull, swift, lively.

The warning lights in the corridor were turned on one by one, accompanied by harsh chirping sounds, alternating with the fading blood-gold sunlight, forming a strange interplay.

 Until the heartbeat gradually resonates with the alarm sound.

 “Let’s go.”

 The young man behind him said.

 …

Outside the door, the lines of the corridor extend so far, extending into invisible corners in the distance. The whole city seems to be suddenly awakened, with red lights intertwining into transparent spider webs.

Su Mingan walked forward, as if being blocked by some invisible resistance. His steps became very difficult, as if he had left something important behind. Once again he left "himself" behind.

 …and he couldn't look back.

Shards of glass reflected light and wavered in his field of vision.

 It seems like he is a reflection of the old world. If there was no world game and a crisis was imminent, he might have done something similar to Su Wensheng. They are the kind of people who are hesitant at the expense of others and decisive at the expense of themselves.

The setting sun is like a burning amber, as if you are in a burning dream. He didn't look back and kept moving forward.

Su Lin is clearing the way in front, and "Su Lin" is defending behind, while the figure of the young man gradually becomes far away.

The clash of sword blades and bullets made a tinkling sound, like piano music playing in his ears. As Su Mingan walked forward, he thought in a daze—that dream, and he knew what the young man was thinking.

At that time, he was looking through Su Wensheng's memories and saw a diary, which mostly contained trivial daily information, so he didn't read it carefully.

Now, as I say goodbye to my youth, the tiny words inevitably echo in my mind.

 He suddenly felt a burning pain.

 …

 December 2: I buried the orange cat. From now on, I will probably not raise any more animals. In this world, you can't even support a human being, let alone a pet. 】

 February 3: I went to the grave of that female classmate. Photos of her disheveled clothes were still secretly circulated on the Internet for a few cents per hundred photos. 】

　　　【May 13th: I inquired about the dark place, which has not yet been demolished, and countless children lost their lives in it. I didn't dare to tell anyone. If I did, I might even lose the qualification to take the exam. 】

 June 12th: Luoluo Su suffered cyberbullying. She cried and told me why people always speculated on her with the worst possible intentions. 】

 August 29: My godfather told me that when I go to college and graduate, I can change everything. I have always believed so. I want to be a reporter. I want to shine light into the darkest places. I want to interview cities that have been affected by black fog. I want to see food and vegetables. 】

  【December 12: I saw the bottle. 】

  【May 28: Her photos are still spreading. 】

  【November 28: Children are still being persecuted. 】

 【February 4: Suoloro is still trapped by online violence. 】

  【December 2: I am still the same me. 】

  【May 27: Her photos are still being circulated. 】

  【November 29: Children are still being persecuted. 】

 【February 5: Su Luolo is still subject to malicious speculation. 】

 December 13: In such an era... I seem to see an endless cycle of reincarnation. 】

 …

 (End of this chapter)